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Dr. Marjorie Crandall: Yeast Infections, Candida Allergy, and Vulvodynia

By Marjorie Crandall, Ph.D.

The typical woman with vulvar pain recently had yeast vaginitis and was treated with an antifungal for a short time. After her severe symptoms of itching and vaginal discharge resolved, she was left with vulvar redness and burning.

I propose that this residual inflammation can be due to yeasts remaining in vulvar and vaginal tissues.

During an active infection, yeasts invade underlying tissues and penetrate inside epithelial cells, where they stop growing, but continue to release yeast digestive enzymes and toxic metabolic products that cause chronic tissue irritation. I coined the phrase latent intracellular yeast infection for this condition.

The medical term for this low grade yeast infection is chronic atrophic erythematous candidiasis, in which atrophic means not feeding, not growing; and erythematous means red tissue. The textbook example is the red, burning gums of people with false teeth, called denture stomatitis. Such an inactive yeast infection can also account for the red, burning vulvas in women with vulvodynia or vulvar vestibulitis.

You are probably wondering how to diagnose this latent intracellular yeast infection.

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